Trader Lab · Technical analysis
FxPro. Japan
Trading gold (XAUUSD): hours, price moves and position size
Gold moves far more than most currency pairs; tens of dollars in a day is normal. It is popular, but trading it with the size you would use on USDJPY can make profits and losses balloon fast.
75%+ of retail investor accounts lose money trading CFDs.
What XAUUSD is
XAUUSD is the US dollar price of one troy ounce of gold. At FxPro you trade it as a CFD; no physical gold changes hands. It reacts strongly to the dollar, US interest rates and geopolitical stress.
Profit and loss per lot
At many brokers one gold lot is 100 troy ounces; check FxPro's contract size in the MT5 symbol specification. With 100-ounce lots, a 1-dollar move means:
| Lots | Ounces | P/L per 1-dollar move |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 | 100 | 100 dollars (about 15,000 yen) |
| 0.10 | 10 | 10 dollars (about 1,500 yen) |
| 0.01 | 1 | 1 dollar (about 150 yen) |
Yen figures assume USDJPY at 150. A 20-dollar day is 2,000 dollars on one lot, roughly 300,000 yen.
Pips are counted differently
Some brokers and tools count 0.01 dollars as one pip on gold, others 0.1. A "50-pip stop" can therefore mean two ranges ten times apart. Think in dollars of price movement to avoid mistakes.
Active hours in Japan time
| Japan time | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Morning to late afternoon (Tokyo) | Usually calmer |
| From about 16:00 (17:00 in winter) | London joins; moves pick up |
| About 21:30 (22:30 in winter) | Major US data; sharp moves likely |
| Late night to early morning | Late New York session; spreads often widen early morning |
Trading breaks and weekend hours are in the MT5 symbol specification.
Sizing example
Account 500,000 yen, risk 10,000 yen per trade, stop 5 dollars away. One lot would lose 5 × 100 = 500 dollars, about 75,000 yen at 150. To keep the loss at 10,000 yen: 10,000 ÷ 75,000 = about 0.13 lots, so 0.13 lots or less. The method is the same as in lot size calculation.
Spread and swap
Gold spreads are wider than on major currency pairs and widen further early in the morning and around data. Holding past the daily rollover costs a swap. How to read costs: spreads and commission.
Data releases and shocks
Around US jobs data, CPI and FOMC decisions gold can move 10 dollars or more in minutes, and stops can slip. Until you are experienced, avoid holding through these releases. Stop placement: how to set a stop-loss.
Questions
How much does one lot of gold move?
With 100-ounce lots, 100 dollars per 1-dollar move; 0.01 lot is 1 dollar. Check FxPro's contract size in the MT5 symbol specification.
When is the best time to trade gold from Japan?
Moves usually pick up from the London open in the Japanese evening through the US data releases at night. Bigger moves mean bigger risk, so trade small.
What is a pip on gold?
It depends on the broker or tool: 0.01 or 0.1 dollars. Calculate profit and loss in dollars of price movement to avoid confusion.